The Palace Museum has confirmed that a case of a couple carving names into a centuries old relic has been reported to the police.

The incident came to light after an internet user posted a photo on social media showing that two names had been carved into the surface of a 300 year old bronze water vat.

The names read as "Zhang Tao and Liu Ya" in Chinese and were surrounded by a heart sign, indicating the two persons who marked their names were in love.

The museum says similar acts take place quite often and it is not easy to catch the destroyers at scene.

The photo has sparked outrage online with some internet users critisizing the two for damaging cultural relic.

Many also voiced support to set up relevant laws to protect cultural relics inside the Palace Museum.

According to public security regulations in China, people who deface cultural relics would be detained for five to ten days with certain amount of fine.